Notice Me, Ruby!

Chapter 17: Flight Talk

Ruby was in a Bullhead, heading towards the site where she and team LION would be completing their assignment. Despite the fact that she was traveling with an older and more experienced team, the redhead was still quite nervous. From what little she knew, the work that the third-year teams faced was far more difficult and dangerous than anything students like she had ever faced. All sorts of scary images and scenarios were playing inside Ruby's mind, as she tried not to show how frightened she truly was by staring out of the window.

An arm suddenly made it's way around Ruby's shoulders, nearly giving the nervous girl a heart attack. The scythe-wielder looked who had put their arm on her and saw Isabella looking at her with a smile.

"What's on your mind, Ruby?" the white-haired girl asked. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but you look so nervous and scared that I fear you might have a mental breakdown. Is something bothering you?"

"Uhh... Nothing big! It's just..." Ruby replied nervously, before letting out a sigh and continuing. "I'm just a bit nervous about this whole thing. I mean, I know you guys are all skilled and everything, but this is my first time doing something like this. I've never been on an assignment of this level, so I can't help but worry about what might happen."

The young team leader had expected the older girl to mock her or to tell her to grow up and not act like a child. Instead, she was surprised when Isabella started to laugh.

"Don't worry about it, Rubes!" the third-year girl said with a grin. "It's perfectly normal to feel nervous in a situation like this! I mean, you never know what might happen out there in the missions you've been going at, let alone the ones we tackle! Believe me, we were ALL nervous like you, when we faced our first third-year level job!"

"Wait, really? You guys were like me?" Ruby asked with wide eyes.

"Well, not all of us, to be honest," Elaine said with a smirk, earning a glare from Isabella. "When we went on our first third-year level mission, most of us were acting like you currently are, except for Isabella. She actually got so scared that she wet herself on the Bullhead and cried."

"HEY! The only reason I shed tears was because I got some dust in my eyes!" the dark-skinned girl yelled angrily with an embarrassed blush on her face. "Although, I will admit the whole "wetting my pants" part. No use trying to deny it, since the pilots we had then would just confirm it."

"Not to mention that one clothing store clerk that we needed to explain the whole thing to," Oliver added with a small smirk. "We actually had to take a quick stop at a small village on the way to buy you some new clothes, thanks to your little accident."

"DAMMIT, OLLIE! YOU DON'T NEED TO ADD TO THIS WHOLE THING!" Isabella yelled at her teammate, while the other third-year students were laughing at her. Even Ruby was giggling a bit.

Thanks to the embarrassing story about one of the third-years and the knowledge about the older students having been just as nervous as she was, Ruby managed to calm down a bit. Laughter was truly a great medicine for fear.

"Thanks, you guys. I really needed that," the redhead said with a smile to the third-years. "I was honestly feeling kind of scared just now about this whole thing. I mean, this is my first time doing something this big, so I don't know what to really expect. Not to mention, I'm not sure if I'm even ready yet."

"Hey, don't look down on yourself like that!" Isabella said with a grin, forgetting about the embarrassment she had just gone through. "If you weren't good enough to do this thing with us, do you think any of the teachers had allowed this? Especially people like Goodwitch and Ozpin? Had there been any doubts about your skills, I'm sure they wouldn't have even considered this whole assignment in the first place!"

"Isabella is right, Ruby. You should have more faith in yourself," Elaine added with a smile. "I have actually seen some footage of your combat classes and heard about you from your teachers. You should be more than qualified to join us on this mission."

Hearing such encouraging words aimed at her caused Ruby to feel warm and blush a bit. Never before had she gotten such support from anyone, so it was honestly heartwarming for her to receive such praise.

"Thank you all. That honestly means a lot to me," the redhead said gratefully.

"Don't mention it!" Isabella said happily, before a mischievous smirk came to her face. "Now, how about I show you another way to relieve your anxiety?"

Before Ruby could ask what the older girl was talking about, she was suddenly picked up and placed on Isabella's lap. The young team leader turned as red as her cloak from this sudden change in her seating.

"W-What are you doing!?" Ruby asked and let out an embarrassed squeak as Isabella wrapped her arms around her.

"It's one of my specialties! The comfort seat!" the dark-skinned girl answered with a grin. "You can ask Nilo just how effective it is!"

While this show of affection was going on between Ruby and Isabella, Elaine looked at them with a bit of envy in her eyes, before turning to look at her youngest teammate.

"Ellie... Do you have to?" Nilo asked, knowing what his team leader wanted.

"Come on! Can you let me do it, please?" the older redhead asked with pleading eyes.

"...Fine. If it means so much to you," the small boy said with a sigh, causing Elaine to become very happy suddenly. The team leader then picked up Nilo and placed him on her lap, just like Isabella had done with Ruby.

Now that she had calmed down a bit, Ruby remembered that there were some things that she needed to ask about from the older students.

"Excuse me, but what exactly are we going to be doing at the place we are going to?" the scythe-wielder asked. "I know that this is a history assignment, but what are we expected to do, once we reach our destination?"

"Well, to put it simply, we have a small list of things we need to look for at the place we are going to," Elaine answered. "We are going to the ruins of an ancient city that has been pretty much taken over by Grimm and nature. We are supposed to look for things on the list we were given, such as proof of Grimm being the cause of the city's downfall and so on."

"That's definitely different from the history assignments I've had to do," Ruby said thoughtfully. "But how do we prove that we actually were at the ruins? I mean, there must be some sort of records that already exist of those ruins from people that have already been there to inspect them. Can't students just read those records and search for all the information they need on the internet?"

"We kind of need to provide different type of information," the older team leader answered and pulled out what seemed to be an earpiece of some kind from her pocket. "This little thing's a video camera that will be recording everything I'm going to look over at the ruins. Once we are done, we will return both the video and everything else we have gathered on our subject to Professor Oobleck. The video is especially important, as it shows proof that we have found all the things required on our assignments list."

"The video is also needed as proof of the Grimm we might face. Ancient ruins are generally protected by law and are not to be harmed, unless necessary. If we have video evidence of us facing Grimm at the ruins, we won't be blamed for any of the damages that may happen during combat," Oliver added. "Professor Oobleck might care about history, but he's not willing to sacrifice his students for it."

Ruby gave a nod at the explanation she had been given. This was truly different from anything she had ever faced. Not only was the area she was heading to much more dangerous than anything she had faced so far, but the work itself was much more different from what she had done before. To be honest, the redhead kind of liked this better than simply reading books at a library. Any person could read a book and pick out the necessary details from the texts, but this was something that required the skills she had trained. If she was completely honest, she might have started to feel even a bit excited.

"So, what should we be prepared to face out there?" Ruby asked. "I know that we are going to be facing Grimm, but any idea what type of Grimm? Or their numbers?"

"To be perfectly honest, we never know what we'll face," Elaine answered. "Sometimes you're lucky and only face the normal Beowolves and Ursas, but sometimes there's something that's a lot... bigger. ...And meaner... And-"

"I think she gets the point, Ellie," Oliver said to his team leader.

"In other words, anything can come at us, huh?" Ruby asked, getting a nod from Elaine. "Okay, I still have one more question, but it's a bit weird, so..."

"Ruby, you shouldn't worry about what you're going to ask, okay?" Isabella said with a smile. "You have the right to ask what's on your mind and we should answer you to the best of our abilities. Not to mention, your question can't be really all that weird, especially when you think about how weird our team actually is."

"Thanks, Isabella," the redhead said with a smile. "I was just wondering what sort of weapons you guys use. I have a bit of an... obsession with weapons, so I would really like to see what you all use."

"That's it? You just wanted to see our gear?" the dark-skinned girl asked and let out a small laugh. "Why would you be nervous about asking that?"

"Well... A lot of people kind of think that my obsession with weapons is... creepy," Ruby explained sadly. "I think it's one of the reasons I never really had any friends before I came to Beacon."

Most of the third-years were stunned and shocked by what they just heard, with the exception of Elaine who knew about it already. To think that a lovable person like Ruby would be treated like that simply for an interest of hers.

"Y-You don't have to worry about such things with us, R-Ruby!" Nilo said as encouragingly as he could. "W-We're not like that at all, so you can be yourself around us!"

The scythe-wielder looked at the young boy in surprise, before looking at the other third-year students, who were all giving her kind smiles.

"Thank you all," Ruby said gratefully with a smile. "That really means a lot to me."

"Oh, don't worry about it! That's what friends are for, right!?" Isabella said with a big grin. "Anyways, you wanted to see our weapons, right? Well, how about I go first?"

The white-haired girl raised her right arm up, so that she wouldn't accidentally harm Ruby. Then three long, metallic claws appeared from her sleeve in a flash. Isabella shook her arm a bit, so that her sleeve fell down, showing a gauntlet on her arm. She then carefully brought it down, so that the younger girl could inspect it.

"I use a pair of gauntlets that both have three claws on them," Isabella explained. "I often use Electric Dust with them, as it allows me to give a bit of a shock to my opponents, when I'm cutting them. And if you look closely enough, you can see that I have prepared for long-range combat with-"

"A submachine gun in your gauntlets!" Ruby said excitedly, recognizing the gun in the older girl's gauntlet. "That is so well-made! And it gives you the perfect assistance for opponents that are too far away from your claws!"

"Heh! I see you recognize good work when you see it!" Isabella said with a proud grin. "You really know good quality when you see it!"

Not wanting to be outshone by her teammate, Elaine decided it was a good time to show her own weaponry. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out two weapons from it, which were a rifle and a large knife.

"I personally use two weapons, instead of a combination weapon like many others do," the older team leader explained. "I normally use my rifle in order to give support to my teammates, but if something gets too close, I'll have my knife ready for them. Both weapons can also be used with Dust for different effects."

"That sounds cool, but why do you have two weapons instead of making a combination weapon like most other students?" Ruby asked out of curiosity. "I mean, they are very useful and a lot of people like them."

"It's true that combination weapons have their good sides, but they also have many problems," Elaine answered. "For starters, making even a decent combination weapon is going to require a lot of work, materials and money, so they're not exactly easy to get your hands on. Not only that, but they also require a lot more maintenance as well, and have more parts that can get jammed or damaged. There is also the fact that changing your weapon's form depending on the situation creates a small opportunity for your opponent to attack you. While I definitely, see the good points combination weapons have, they also have their fair share of problems that I personally don't want to deal with."

The younger team leader thought about Elaine's explanation and couldn't help but agree. While she would NEVER say a single bad word about her precious Crescent Rose, Ruby still saw all the problems that her weapon had. Not only had it been hard work simply to make it, there were often times she had to struggle with either fixing or maintaining it. With time, this work had become easier trough experience, but it was still a good amount of work to find a single small issue with her sniper-scythe that could cause bigger problems.

"I see what you mean," Ruby said with a nod before looking at Nilo. "What kind of a weapon do you use?"

The young boy raised his arm a bit and let something fall out of his sleeve. It seemed to be a knife of some kind that was attached to a wire from it's bottom.

"I use this as my weapon," Nilo answered and made a small motion with his wrist that caused the wire to be pulled back into his sleeve, along with the knife. "It's called a rope dart. They're apparently used by assassins in Mistral to strike at enemies from a distance. I also use Dust with my weapon to sometimes increase the damage I do to my opponents."

"Woah. I don't think I've ever seen a weapon like that before," Ruby said in amazement. "I have to say that it's strange that a person like you would be using a weapon meant for an assassin. Also, is that really the only thing that you use in combat?"

"Well, I do have some other stuff that I use, but you'll see them later," the shy boy answered. "And I can understand it being weird for me to use a weapon like this, but I'm not all that strong, so a much lighter weapon was something I really needed."

"I see," the redhead said with a nod, before looking at the last member of team LION. "And what do you use?"

"I don't use any weapons at all," the tall boy answered, surprising Ruby. "I kind of have something that works a lot better for me."

"Something better? You mean like a Semblance of some kind?" Ruby asked. "What kind of a Semblance could that be?"

Before Oliver could answer, Elaine stopped him. The older team leader turned to look at the younger girl with a slightly apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, but I'm going to have to this here," Elaine stated. "You see, Semblances are the essential trump cards of Huntsmen and Huntresses all over the world. While some like to use them all the time, smarter people try their best to keep them a secret. The knowledge of your opponents Semblance can be the one thing that decides who will win in the end, after all."

"Oh... I understand. I can't be trusted, right?" Ruby said sadly, shocking the older redhead. "If I knew about your Semblances, I could possibly tell about them to the wrong people, which would put you all in danger. I'm sorry for asking about something that important."

Both Isabella and Oliver gave Elaine dirty looks for making the younger girl sad. Even Nilo gave a look at his team leader, although it was nowhere near as bad as his two older teammates'.

"I-I-I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT, RUBY!" Elaine began to explain in a panic. "I-It's just a common practice among some of the more experienced Huntsmen in the world, so I though it would be good advice for-!"

The older team leader stopped her panicked explanation upon seeing Ruby begin to snicker. The younger girl looked at her with a mischievous grin on her face, with no signs of sadness at all.

"Oh, I understood completely what you meant!" Ruby said happily. "I was just messing around with you!"

"Oh, you little devil!" Elaine cried out in mock hurt. "How could you do such a horrible thing to me!? I was honestly worried here for a second!"

"Hey, it's your own fault for not realizing you were being played," Oliver said with a chuckle. "Although, I do think Ellie's being a bit too careful when it comes to our Semblances. I mean, we are most likely going to face Grimm, so I see no problem with her knowing our abilities."

"Well, what I ACTUALLY wanted was to see if Ruby could determine what our Semblances are while watching us fight!" the third-year team leader explained. "When you're in an actual fight, your opponent isn't going to tell you what their Semblance is or give any hints! That's why I want to see if Ruby can determine our abilities through observation!"

"I have to wonder, though. If Ruby had not revealed that she was faking her sadness, would you have actually told her all our abilities?" Nilo wondered with a small grin. "I mean, you looked like you were ready to start crying and begging for forgiveness."

"NILO, NOT YOU AS WELL!"

Everybody laughed at Elaine's expense a bit, while she herself was red from embarrassment. Things calmed down soon after that, with the passengers beginning to have normal conversation among themselves.

With her questions answered, Ruby simply sat in silence and looked out of the window, thinking about the mission she was on. Truth be told, the scythe-wielder still couldn't fully believe that she was on a mission with a third-year team, and that she had actually befriended them all. Just a few days earlier, if someone had told her that this all would happen to her, she wouldn't have believed them at all.

"Hey, is anything wrong, Ruby?" Isabella asked, noticing how quiet the younger girl was. "If you're worried about our mission, you shouldn't be. We have done plenty of these types of-"

"Oh, I'm not worried about our mission at all!" Ruby quickly said. "I was just thinking about how much things have changed for me. I mean, not too long ago, I was pretty much the least liked student in all of Beacon with no friends. Now I have become friends with much more skilled students that have even become my friends. Thinking back to the way my life used to be, it's a pretty big change, you know?"

The dark-skinned girl frowned a bit at the younger girl's explanation. Not too long ago, Ruby had told them about all the things she had to go through, especially when it came to her own team. The idea that someone would get treated so badly by their own team was something Isabella found completely unforgivable.

"Well, the way I see it, we are just treating you the way you should be treated, Ruby. You're an amazing person and I'm proud to not only work with you, but to call you my friend as well. That's how other people should feel about you too, so don't let anyone ever even give you the idea that you deserve less," Isabella stated. "Also, don't be shy to ask us for help, if anyone gives you any trouble. Even if they're your own teammates."

Hearing the older girl mention her team with a slightly angered tone made Ruby think about the talk she had with team LION not too long ago. To say the least, the third-years had not been happy about the way the three older girls of team RWBY had treated their leader.

Some time after team LION's encounter with Ruby's teammates, the young redhead found herself sitting on one of the third-year team's beds. She had just finished telling her more experienced friends what she had been going through thanks to her teammates, and their reactions weren't exactly positive.

Elaine was sitting next to Ruby with an arm around the younger girl, holding her as tightly and as close as possible. The older team leader had an expression that was a mix of shock and pure rage. Nilo was sitting on the bed opposite of Ruby, and looked like he was ready to start crying. Isabella was walking back and forth in the room, cursing about "worthless traitors" and "undeserving trash teammates". Oliver seemed to be the most calm, as he was leaning on a wall and not doing or saying anything, but if you looked close enough, you could see that he had a frown on his face and he was gritting his teeth in anger.

"Ummm... Guys? Could you please calm down?" Ruby asked the third-year students. "I know that the things that my team has done to me are not exactly nice, but there's no need to get so upset over it."

"No need!? NO NEED!?" Isabella yelled. "How can you say that there is no need for us o get upset, after hearing how you've been backstabbed by your own team!? How are we supposed to just let something like that go!? Especially after hearing that recording of yours!"

"I agree with Isabella," Oliver said. "The things your teammates have done and said are pretty much unforgivable. Teammates are supposed to support each other and be able to trust each other. Those three have pretty much destroyed all possible unwritten rules that exist, when it comes to teams. I fail to see how we could ever be calm about this."

"T-To think that... Ruby was g-going through s-something like that!" Nilo managed to say while struggling not to cry.

"Oh God, please don't cry, Nilo! Please don't cry!" Ruby pleaded the young boy, before looking at the leader of the third-year team. "Ellie, please say something to your team, before things get out of control!"

"...We're gonna make them pay," Elaine said with a growl.

"...Excuse me?"

"I said that WE are going to make THEM PAY!" the older team leader practically roared, earning herself cheers of support from her team. "Those three have gone way too far with what they have done! It's time someone went and put them in their place! I won't be satisfied, until I have personally done that!"

Before the third-year students were able to go and proceed with their plans of getting revenge on the WBY, Ruby stood up, ran up to the door and firmly stood there, not letting anyone get past her. The young team leader had a look of pure determination on her face, telling anyone that she wouldn't let anything get past her.

"STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Ruby yelled at team LION, stopping them in their tracks completely. "Do any of you have any idea what you're about to do!? Are you seriously going to go and attack a small group of first-year students just like that!? Don't you have any idea how bad that would look on all of you!? Especially when you're all third-years!"

"But... Ruby, how can we just let them go unpunished?" Elaine asked with wide eyes. "The things they've done to you are just horrible! How can we just let them get away with the things they have done to you, our friend!?"

"Because that is the right thing to do and you know it," the scythe-wielder answered sternly. "What are you even supposed to be fighting against? As bad as the things my team has done to me are, they're not exactly any sort of crimes. Or did not liking someone and being mean to them suddenly become offenses that are to be punished by law? Ones that require a full team if Huntsmen to take care of? If you go and attack my team, you won't just damage your own reputations, but the reputation of all Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world! People like us need to be better than that and you all know it!"

Team LION stood still and stared at Ruby with wide eyes. Even though she was far less experienced than any of them, she was somehow way more mature than all of them combined. Just how was it possible for someone like her to have the spirit of a true Huntress like that?

"You're just too good for yourself, you know?" Elaine said with a smile and went to gently ruffle Ruby's hair. "But are you really okay with how things are? Especially in regards to your team?"

"I'll admit that I'm not exactly happy with how things have been going with them lately, but I'm optimistic," the younger redhead answered. "You know how they say that things get better with time, right? Well, I'm kind of starting to believe that. After all, I got to meet you guys and things are definitely better now."

"Oh, you!" the older redhead said with a grin and pulled the younger girl into a hug.

Ruby thought about her conversation about her own teammates with the members of team LION, especially about the things she herself had said. While she was truly optimistic about her future, due to having her skills be recognized and getting to meet her new friends, the scythe-wielder couldn't help but still be somewhat worried. Once this assignment was done, what would happen then? Would she have to go back to her own team and resume her studies with them, like before? And if Ruby did have to return to her own team, would everything go back to the way they used to be or would things be different?

All in all, the young redhead couldn't help but worry.

"We're approaching the point where you'll be dropped off! Get ready!" the Bullhead's pilot yelled to the passengers, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts.

The young team leader started to get her equipment ready, just like the third-year students were. Now was not the time to be thinking about the future. Right now, she needed to focus on her assignment.

Author's notes: This chapter became focused on dialogue and such, because there were some things that I wanted to write in this story, such as Ruby asking about team LION's weapons. I was also originally planning to have Ruby's flashback on her conversation with LION happen on a later chapter, but I decided to put it here, so that this chapter wouldn't just be Ruby talking about her mission with a group of OC's of all things.

The next chapter will be about the actual assignment, where Ruby and team LION get to work. This chapter got so long that I decided to leave it for the next chapter. I'm not entirely sure how many chapters will go to the whole assignment, but there's the possibility of two chapters going into it. I'm fully aware that a good amount of you probably want me to move on to Ruby interacting with her own team, but I feel like I should write what actually happens on her special assignment, so all I can do is ask for your patience.

However, next I'll be working on Securing A Future, as I have already started writing the next chapter for it. After that is done, I might return to this or to Dead By Roselight.

Until next time.

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